I found Deborah C. Pope in a video on the Carol Duvall Show on the HGTV web site called Handmade Felt Sculpture. In this video Deborah shows us her magical creations and I think that any of you that have wanted to needle felt a character will find inspiration in this video. I also researched Deborah and found her blog where she offers us this stunning heart tutorial, pictured about. Deborah shows you the step-by-step instruction on her blog waiting for you to try.
About this artist: Elected as a NIADA artist member at the 2008 NIADA annual conference, Deborah has had a life-long interest in art and a fascination with fabric. Deborah earned her BFA in painting and photographic non-silver processes from RIT. She has traveled extensively and lived in Yugoslavia where she studied with Ive Subic, an internationally known artist. As a graduate student at RIT she majored in printmaking.
Learning to knit opened the door to feltmaking for Deborah. Beginning with knitted (fulled) hats, she was curious about true felt and took several basic feltmaking classes. Today, Deborah has created her own unique style and approach to feltmaking. Her imaginative felted fantasy creatures, art dolls, wearables and accessories demonstrate her mastery of technique, color and design.
Deborah’s work has appeared in Cloth Doll and Soft Doll & Animal magazines and featured in Making Creative Cloth Dolls
, Lark Books, 2002. She authored an article for Dollcrafter and Costuming magazine in February 2007. She has taught and /or exhibited at the Canadian Doll Artist Association 2001 Conference; We Folk of Cloth; The Rochester Weaving Center; The Rochester Weaving Guild; 2001 Mid-Atlantic Fiber Conference (MAFA); Creative Strands 2003, 2004; The Calico Cat Doll Symposium; Camp Doll U 2004; Artistic Figure in Cloth 2005; Doll Camp 2005; Houston Quilt Festival; Figure in Cloth 2002, 2003, 2004; Alaska Fiber Festival 2005, 2006; 2008 NIADA Gallery at IDEX 2006, and was the Artist of the Month for February 2004 on Doll Street. Deborah was also featured in the Artist’s Profile segment for the Carol Duval Show on HGTV in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Deborah’s work was selected for 500 Handmade Dolls: Explorations of the Human Form, Lark Books, 2007. She was the featured artist for June, 2007 on FeltingForum.com.
Deborah freely shares her extensive knowledge to promote and exchange new ideas. She teaches selected classes in the U.S. and Canada and offers workshops in a variety of venues. Deborah lives in Williamson, NY with her husband and two children.
